Biography

American director, producer, and librettist Edwin Cahill’s unique background as a concert pianist and Broadway actor “a talented pianist, a first-rate singer, and an engaging stage presence” (New York Times), and linguist with studies at the University of Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle who served as a French/Italian Political Analyst for Medley Global advisors, informs his “joyful and passionate directing” (onmilwaukee.com) that is “light, effortless, and fits the space like a glove” (Music4awhile), leading to a body of work in theater, musicals, and operas that “will make hearts melt” (Broadway World), is “seamless…completely engrossing the patron in the idiosyncrasies of Mozart’s music” (dosavannah.com), “achieved the nearly impossible...and staged every scene with urgency, inventiveness and most importantly, a reverence for the music” (The Huffington Post), and reached the pop culture breakthrough of the “brilliant and highbrow approval matrix” (New York Magazine). His work has led critics to acclaim that “Cahill has perhaps invented a new style of opera…punk opera comique” (dosavannah.com) and that he created “by far the most enjoyable and thought-provoking Don Giovanni New York has heard in many a year.” (Opera News)

Upcoming and recent productions include the fourth season of Fire Island Opera Festival; the Berlin premiere of Gluck’s L’Arbre Enchanté; a return to Los Angeles to direct his newly conceived staged version of Hanns Eisler's Hollywood Songbook for at SongFest at the Colburn School; a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro in Tel Aviv with conductor Ryan McAdams, the world premiere of the dance monodrama Lost Goddess starring Laura Careless in Santa Fe, the Off-Broadway workshop of his new adaption of Carmen, and the inaugural season of the Capri Festival in Italy.

Highlights of recent seasons include: Into the Woods in Milwaukee at the Skylight Theatre; Carmen starring Jennifer Johnson Cano for Sherrill Milnes’ Savannah Voice Festival; Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias in his directing debut in Tel Aviv; a new Off-Broadway adaptation/workshop of Chekhov’s The Seagull starring Tony award-winner Judy Kaye; the Off-Broadway world premiere of the new play Fire On Babylon; Don Giovanni and La Bohème with Savannah Voice Festival; and as founding artistic director of the Fire Island Opera Festival: the east coast premier of Kurt Weill’s The Protagonist, Bon Appétit starring Jamie Barton, L’Arbre Enchanté for which he also adapted a new American libretto, Un Amour de Proust, and a touring residency with Marfa Live Arts in Marfa, Texas.

As an actor, Edwin won a Kevin Kline award for his portrayal of Cosme McMoon in the play Souvenir, co-starred in the feature film My Dead Boyfriend directed by Anthony Edwards starring Heather Graham to be released this year, and co-starred in the CBS TV series Person of Interest. Broadway productions include LoveMusik, directed by Harold Prince and the national tour of the Tony award-winning revival of Sweeney Todd directed by John Doyle. He has appeared in over ten productions Off-Broadway and his regional appearances include the major theatres of America and Canada. He holds a B.A. in French - Magna cum Laude from Tufts University, a B.M. in voice from New England Conservatory, and has pursued master’s studies in voice at the Manhattan School of Music and in French Literature of the 19th Century at the University of Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle. He is originally from Maine and lives in New York City.